Filters and filter assemblies used with electrical connectors are normally provided for the purpose of protecting sensitive electrical components from transient currents and voltages which develop in a transmission cable due to electromagnetic and radio frequency interference. Such transients are generally high frequency waveforms, and therefore capacitive or tuned pi circuits may be used to shunt the transients to ground without affecting the primary signal carried by the cable.
Prior art, tubular capacitors are normally mounted on the same side of a common ground area within an electrical circuit or electronic device and are primarily effective against common mode noise. Combining these components on the same side of a common ground plane or external conductive area yields a circuit that is susceptible to EMI problems such as ground bounce and cross talk.
Therefore, a need exists for a filter assembly that can provide a range of capacitances, yet utilizes existing technology to yield a multi-feature energy conditioning filter assembly comprised of conventional energy conditioners and a conductive substrate.
These commonly found conventional energy conditioners and conductive substrates are able to form a new energy conditioning filter assembly that is practicable and operable to provide three distinct, isolated energy pathways by physically and electrically positioning each member of at least one pair of energy conditioners on opposite sides of a common conductive energy pathway with respect to each other that will serve as a central isolating barrier, interposed physically and electrically at energization between each energy conditioner of the paired conventional energy conditioners, while still maintaining the versatility of discrete energy conditioners. The added advantage of providing discrete energy conditioners or filters for only those of the contacts requiring filtering and of enabling the conventional materials of the support structure to be more electrically integrated with those of the discrete filter elements.
The claimed invention provides such a filter assembly by arranging the conventional materials and energy conditioners into a two or three energy pathway system and filter structure to accommodate today""s EMI/EMC requirements as well as industry economics.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the invention to overcome the disadvantages of conventional filter assembly and filter connector designs by providing an electrical filter assembly that can provide a range of capacitances with either the conventional monolithic and or discrete energy conditioners filter designs, that combines the ease-of-assembly of a conventional monolithic filter with the versatility of a discrete energy conditioner or capacitor, and that has the added advantage of providing discrete energy conditioners or filters for only those contacts requiring filtering.
It is an objective of the invention to provide filtering of common mode and differential mode noise simultaneously, when combined with an external conductive area.
It is an objective of the invention to provide a filter array for a multiple contact electrical connector, in which the capacitances associated with individual contacts may be varied.
It is an objective of the invention to provide a filter array for a multiple contact electrical connector in which, as with a conventional tubular energy conditioner or tubular energy conditioner/ferrite arrangement, can be utilized with any desired combinations of capacitances that can be provided for energy conductors or the contacts without the need for a separate common capacitance.
It is an objective of the invention to provide a simple low cost filter to assemble.
Finally, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the energy conditioner arrays of the preferred embodiments of the invention may be used in any electrical connector that conventionally uses energy conditioning filters, including D-sub and ARINC type connectors and the like such that the invention is not to be limited to any particular connector configuration.